The purpose of my study is to examine whether the need for competence development in the communicative leadership exists among the six school leaders at the current adult education unit in Malmö. By observing the communication between the parties I hoped to get the following questions answered: What are the preconditions for the school leaders, in their daily communication with the staff, for getting the staff to feel noticed and confirmed? In what ways do the school leaders communicate with their staff to motivate them to development? I also wanted to highlight the school leaders' awareness of their own communication skills. The theories and models I have used are Haberma’s theory of the communicative action, Spitzberg and Cupach’s relational competence model and Engquist’s theory of level of abstractions. Very briefly, my main study results are as follows:
Positive reinforcement occurs to a greater extent than negative reinforcement in the communication between the school leaders and their staff
The school leaders seem to be motivated in the interaction with the staff. Consciously or unconsciously, they use both verbal and non-verbal communication skills which have a positive effect on communication outcomes.
The preconditions for the school leaders to succeed in getting the staff to feel noticed and confirmed in their daily work are relatively good.